Orange floodwaters surged against a white ute as the vehicle was swept across Six Mile Creek in the Fitzroy Valley in Western Australia's Central Kimberley.

Behind the wheel was respected Walmajarri Elder Jack Murray.

Onlookers who had gathered to watch the unusually high water levels on a mid-February Sunday afternoon quickly feared the worst as the current carried the car across the flooded crossing.

The flooding followed days of heavy rain across the Fitzroy Valley, which pushed rivers and creeks over their banks and cut access to remote communities including Wangkatjungka, about 10 kilometres from Six Mile Creek.

When Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre director and Bunuba and Walmujarri man Keith Andrews saw the white station wagon flip in the current as it careened downstream, he feared the worst.

"It was frightening to see, because I thought the flood was going to take his life there and then," Mr Andrews told National Indigenous Times.

"I thought we are going to have to wait until the river goes back down."

Then, in what Mr Andrews describes as a "miracle", a head emerged from the thrashing water — it was Mr Murray.

Seeing he was alive, Mr Andrews and a group of four young men in their early twenties from Wangkatjungka sprang into action to rescue the Elder from the floodwaters.

The young men braved the current, reached Mr Murray and helped lift him into a nearby tree, finding precarious shelter in the upper branches.

But both the young men and Mr Andrews knew they could not stay there long as the water continued to rise.

Mr Andrews ran to the back of his vehicle to collect rope he had picked up along the Great Northern Highway — straps often left behind from freight loads.

"I quickly ran to the back of my ute. I had a couple of snatch straps I'd picked up from along the roadside," Mr Andrews said.

He and two other men began tying the ropes between sturdy trees, creating a line across the flooded area so Mr Murray and the young men could hold onto it and pull themselves back towards dry ground.

"We tried everything, tried different ways, and then we ended up tying rope from one tree to another so he could hold on and make his way across," Mr Andrews said.

The current continued to surge as the afternoon light began to fade, but the group remained focused on getting the Elder to safety.

Slowly and carefully, the young men guided Mr Murray along the rope line, helping him move hand-over-hand through the rushing water until they reached dry land.

Mr Andrews said he was relieved the men acted quickly, noting the remoteness of Six Mile Creek meant help would not have arrived in time.

"We know that help won't come in a hurry, it won't come until the next day" Mr Andrews said.

"It was amazing to have that skill together to help our fellow countrymen," he said.

The dangers of crossing flood water are etched into the Fitzroy valley collective conscious.

Two weeks before the Fitzroy River reached catastrophic flood levels during the record-breaking 2023 Fitzroy Valley floods, a missing 40-year-old man was found dead in the river.

During the same floods, a 20-year-old man also lost his life while attempting to cross the Fitzroy River.

Residual trauma from the once-in-a-century floods has Mr Murray's daughter, Louise Dededar — a Wangkatjungka woman — calling for a bridge across Six Mile Creek to ensure residents are not cut off during flooding.

A spokesperson for the Shire of Derby/West Kimberley noted that the Shire is responsible for a network of roads across 120,000 square kilometres.

"The Shire has a number of significant floodways and river crossings that sustain damage annually and we are slowly trying to upgrade, repair or make them more resilient as funding permits," they told National Indigenous Times.

The spokesperson said the Shire is aware of issues surrounding the six mile crossing on the Christmas Creek road and most recently conducted an inspection of the road on 27 February.

"This issue with this crossing has been ongoing for many years, however the Shire has been unable to secure the appropriate funding to undertake the work to upgrade the crossing to provide a more resilient piece of infrastructure for the community," they said.

"The Shire will apply again in the future when the funding round opens for betterment funding from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services which is aimed at building a new and more resilient crossing."

The National Indigenous Times contacted Main Roads Western Australia for comment, but had not received a response at time of publication.

Across this year's wet season Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) have repeatedly warned Fitzroy valley residents not to travel during raised water levels.

On February 16, DFES warned the Fitzroy valley community that "flood waters are very dangerous."

"Water can be deep, fast flowing with strong currents and have sharp objects that can injure or trap you," a DFES spokesperson said.

"Be aware of road closures. If you choose to drive through floodwater, you are choosing to risk your life and those of your passengers."